When white supremacists get book deals

[untonuggan]

What: Milo the white supremacist Twitter troll has signed a 250k book deal with Simon and Schuster. (source here)

In addition to working for Breitbart and leading the troll army that bullied Leslie Jones off Twitter, Milo has also been on a campus speaking tour during which he publicly targeted a trans student *by name* and forced the student to withdraw from classes due to the following wave of targeted hate.

Okay, this is gross, what can I do?:

• Contact Simon and Schuster and let them know you are upset that they are giving money and a platform to white supremacists. I have been trying to find a phone #, but for the meantime their contact form is available via their website.


• There is ~debate~ about an out-and-out S&S boycott, as a lot of diverse authors also publish with them. (Milo is publishing under their "Threshhold books" label which is basically their deplorable label.) Boycott is up to you.


• Signal boost and support diverse books that counter Milo's message (whether they publish with S&S or with indie publications). I've heard from authors that positive reviews, even short ones, are really helpful -- particularly when a troll strategy is to leave one star reviews of books. Personally, I'm trying to support black women and trans authors right now.


• Share diverse book recs in the comments or links to reviews. At a time when our heroes are dying, we need diverse stories to keep us going now more than ever.

Comments

[rydra_wong]

Thanks for the heads-up! I've used the contact form.

Book rec from current reading: I'm only part-way through, but have recently started reading Wesley Lowery's "They Can't Kill Us All": Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America's Racial Justice Movement and am finding it fascinating.

[untonuggan]

thanks!

[untonuggan]

I have really been enjoying Ana Mardoll's Earthside romance series, personally. Poly queer romance with trans representation and the lastest one has an NB character. yessssssssss I am here for this.

(also, the second book may require trigger warnings, because being kidnapped by fae is traumatic. lmk if you need those. There are also trigger warnings at the back of the ebook.)

[retsuko]

Thanks for the info about this. I left a strong note for S&S on their contact form.

[untonuggan]

thank you!

[dewline]

I just submitted my reaction per point # 1.

Seeing as Simon and Schuster also publish the Star Trek novels, heeding point # 3 on your list of options isn't going to be too difficult.

[kitajmaze]

LOUISE BURKE, President and Publisher

Mitchell ivers, Vice President and Editorial Director

are in charge at Threshold. I don't have time to google their contact info atm, but there's a start.

[alessandriana]

This says Louise Burke's contact info is:
Phone: 212-698-7000
Fax: 212-698-7284

Email addresses here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/29/1615506/-Chicago-Review-of-Books-boycotts-Simon-Schuster-over-hate
Louise.Burke at simonandschuster dot com

[untonuggan]

thank you!

[tassosss]

Thanks for the heads up and the contact form. I

[untonuggan]

thanks!